This invention relates to a hyperbolic paraboloid roof structure which can be assembled on the site from prefabricated sections, generally few in number.
A hyperbolic paraboloid roof is a configuration which has esthetic, structural and economic advantages for many purposes as, for example, inexpensive, attractive, large area structures free of intermediate columns, as, for example, hangers, auditoriums and gymnasiums. It is believed that the most pertinent prior art on this subject is found in United States Patent Office Classes 52 and 287, with particular reference to subclasses 80, 81, 227 and 584 of Class 52, and subclass 2092.5 of Class 287.
Prior to the present invention, hyperbolic paraboloid roof structures were customarily assembled piece by piece on the site by cutting, fitting and assembling the various portions of the roof. Thus, Peeler, U.S. Pat. No. 3,094,812, describes a precast, concrete element which in itself is flat and is assembled in multiples on steel rods or cables running through the elements both longitudinally and transversely to form a support network. Charles, U.S. Pat. No. 3,186,128, shows the construction of a hyperbolic paraboloid roof in a panel by panel construction of small sheet metal panels attached to one another, edge to edge, with waterproof joints, requiring a frame. British Pat. No. 1,019,362 (1966) describes a hyperbolic paraboloid roof which is assembled by having one layer of relatively small panels running in one direction followed by another layer of panels running in another direction. Hyperbolic paraboloid roofs have also been made by steel framing with reinforced concrete and by piece by piece assembly of wooden components.
One object of the present invention is to provide a novel hyperbolic paraboloid roof shell and a method of fabrication which permits the support portions to be prefabricated and then readily assembled on site.
A further object of this invention is to provide a hyperbolic paraboloid roof which can be built far more rapidly and at a much lower cost then previously described roofs of this sort.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the description and claims which follow taken together with the appended drawings.